Monday evening is the start of Lag b’Omer. This special day commemorates a number of important events
in the history of the Jewish people. One of these is the revelation of
Jewish mystical teachings by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (or Rashbi), who
had fled from the Romans and spent a total of 13 years hiding in a cave
with his son. As is well-known, the teachings that he revealed would
later be expanded upon and compiled into the Zohar, the primary
textbook of Kabbalah. What isn’t as well-known is that there are
several other ancient texts attributed to Rashbi. Perhaps the most
enigmatic is Nistarot d’Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the “concealed matters” or “secrets” of Rashbi.
This work was first published in 1743. However, scholars trace back its first publication to sometime in the 8th century. This is because the text includes precise details of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land in the 7th
century, as well as fairly detailed accounts of the caliphs that
followed Muhammad. For Rashbi to have made such a detailed prophecy of
events hundreds of years in the future is hard for most scholars to
accept, so they conclude that the text must have been composed shortly
after the events actually took place, and falsely attributed to Rashbi.
Another, more likely, possibility is that the core text does indeed go
back to the time of Rashbi, but it was edited and expanded in the 8th century after the Muslim conquests.
Whatever the case, we will ignore those passages that describe
historical events (which make up roughly the first half of the text),
and focus on Rashbi’s descriptions of the End of Days. Much of what is
written there overlaps with prophecies and accounts from the Talmud,
Zohar, and Midrash. An English translation of the full text can be
accessed here.
Birth Pangs and Two Messiahs
As with many other sources, Nistarot d’Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai states that Israel will experience nine months of hardship, the “birth pangs” of the messiah, based on Micah 5:2. Nistarot says this means Edom will rule over Israel for nine months (for the identity of Edom, see here and here).
After this, the first messiah, Mashiach ben Yosef, will come “and he
will bring them up to Jerusalem. He will rebuild the Temple and offer
sacrifices; fire shall descend from heaven and consume their
sacrifices…”
At this point, an evil king named Armilus will arise. Some identify
Armilus with Gog from the prophecies of Ezekiel. The name “Armilus”
itself probably derives from Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome (ie.
Edom). Armilus will invade Israel and wreak havoc for 45 days. It is
possible that something like a third of the population will perish,
among them Mashiach ben Yosef. After this, God will send the second
messiah, Mashiach ben David, who will slay Armilus and usher in an
everlasting kingdom.
The concept of two messiahs is one we’ve discussed in the past. One of the earliest places it is mentioned is in the Talmud (Sukkah 52a). Yet, Nistarot says
it isn’t an absolute necessity for there to be two messiahs: “If they
are not worthy, the messiah of the lineage of Ephraim [the son of Yosef]
comes; but if they are worthy, the messiah of the lineage of David will
come.” In other words, the whole catastrophe with Armilus/Gog can be
averted if Israel is meritorious. This was already suggested by our
Sages in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a):
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi raised a
contradiction: It is written: “There came with the clouds of heaven, one
like unto a son of man…” (Daniel 7:13). And it is also written:
“[Behold, your king will come to you…] lowly and riding upon a donkey…”
(Zechariah 9:9). [The explanation is that] If they merit, the messiah
will come “with the clouds of heaven”; if they do not merit, the messiah
will come “lowly and riding upon a donkey”.
When it comes to prophecies, the Jewish view is that negative prophecies do not
have to be realized, since they are relayed as a warning. Positive
prophecies, however, will all be realized. Therefore, in the ideal case
there is one messiah, Mashiach ben David, and no need for a Gog u’Magog-style
conflict. If that is not the case, then first will come a Mashiach ben
Yosef to lead the people through a difficult time of rectification.
This post started out to be the continuation of a previous post, Rainbow Flags: Gay Pride or Noahide? However, it goes beyond the same-gender-attraction theme to...well, possibly the end of the world as we know it. Not because of that alone, but in spite of all the efforts being made to keep it going. The current system seems to be failing from the inside and may never recover.
Am I exaggerating? I don't know yet.
First we have a video from R' Yehuda Richter, "Just Do It" - where he points out the cultural appropriation by Nike, the sneaker (plimsoll, for my British readers) manufacturer, of the concept behind the slogan. After all, people have been criticizing Jews for ages about our impulsivity, which started with our slogan, "Na'aseh v'nishmah!" (We will do [it], and [then] we'll hear [the explanation]!)
sorry, no more video...😒
We did this during our time at Har Sinai because we knew, even back in those days of our exodus from Egypt, that when the Creator of the Universe offers something, it must be taken whole, without "checking it out" first. This is the TORAH, the Holy Word of G-d that believing Jews live by (including the prophets and the writers - Torah is the core and the rest is all encouragement to us to live by it), that we're talking about! Apparently the rest of the world didn't consider Who they were dealing with!
Secondly, we have a high-level explanation of the Israeli government's predicament.
Over 40 years ago (1980) Harav Kaduri, zsk'l, has said...
לפני שיבוא משיח הסימן הוא שיהיו בחירות ויהיה תיקו ולא יצליחו להקים קואלציה ואחר כך יבוא משיח !!!
One of the biggest sign of Moshiach's arrival there will be elections
and the 2 main parties will receive similar votes but they will not be
able to build a coalition.
And
20 years ago, Harav Eliezer Abuchazera, zsk'l, said, "Moshiach will come when Israel will be unable to build a coalition"
In the time of Moshiach, they will not be able to form a coalition and will fail
Nava of Dreaming of Moshiach there calculates the time from the dissolving of the 20th Knesset (the last successful Knesset) on 18 Tevet 5779 until the upcoming elections on 17 Elul, which turns out to be...9 months (266 days) of birth pangs...
***Many thanks to Devash for her two posts on 4 and 8 [later deleted - HDG] Sivan respectively.***
Meanwhile, a third factor has come up: our "cousins" who live among us plan on an uprising against US President Trump, taking it out on us as is their wont...and what is our leadership going to do about it? Can they even operate properly under these conditions?
And if not, will they realize that they don't deserve to govern AT ALL? That the whole system is set up to operate against the Jews and therefore ROTTEN TO THE CORE???
That the whole question is not whether Jews should come home to live in Eretz Yisrael, but how we should be governed here, by whom and under what kind of government?
We will see whether HaShem will show Himself now, in a time of favor for the Jewish People, for His own Name's sake.
Ron Jager's article, "Religious coercion issue could weaken the Right in the coming election," and a lot of the results of searching for MK Smotrich's comments show how the shame of prominent Jews on both sides of the aisle about what HaShem really intends for us is what is generating all the lashon hara against us, including the accusations of racism. Let's stop it already, and consider what is really involved, as opposed to what is assumed. If we were to actually demonstrate what this is, the talk would stop.
Notice that in this video about Smotrich's statements, his remarks are not heard and translated, but just talked about. WHAT DID HE REALLY SAY? And won't the Xians who commented on this be shocked by what really happens...)
Back in Shevat (late January 2019) we heard that Mashiah would be revealed before the elections. Now that elections are on again because no coalition was formed, it could still happen — not between Tazria and Metzora, but possibly between Ki Tetze' and Ki Tavo'.
Remember, R' Kanievsky never said which parshiot would be involved. I did, based on the timing of the elections then as well as now. I'm no prophet or great rabbi, and I never claimed to be. Just an observer in my homeland who wants The Forever Geula already. That's why I've been here - and why you should come too, if you're not already here.
And if geula doesn't happen according to this schedule (as hasn't happened in the last 2,000 years), don't worry. It will happen and we will wait for it! I don't know about you, but I'd rather be here in any case.
